DECEMBER 1, 2021 TO PRESENT

Am finally caught up on Temperature Blanket,

and am so enjoying this project.

So now it's just one row a day to the end.

Most scared that I will run out of certain yarn colors and I already have over $300 invested.

Did I mention how hard it is to find Peace Fleece right now?

I even had to go outside the U.S. to Canada to find a few of the colors. 

So my fingers are crossed.

The temperatures in Crestline went up into the mid 80's

 and I was able to bring in a new color for that temp.

Can you guess which one it is?

It's called Mourning Dove and represents temps from 84 to 89 degrees

We had a couple of those days mid Feb. and beginning of March.

I'm really hoping that the temps drop way low in April and May 

so I can throw in colors called Amaranth and Woolly Bear.

We usually get one more super cold front between now and the end of May.

Plus we still need more rain and snow to build up enough water 

to take us thru another super warm summer that is predicted for this year.

As Liz from I'm Going to Texas remarked in the comments,

it's looking like a blanket inspired by the Ukraine people,

their flag colors of blue and yellow.

How apropos. 

A TREED KITTY

Our neighbor's dog treed a beautiful bobcat up a tree between our two houses

up on our mountain.

Notice the subtle color running up his back leg?

And just look at that chinny chin chin.

Magnificent!

Then today I saw a thin coyote run across the street from our cabin.

He looked hungry,

and I have a pooch that is all fattened up that he's probably seen on our walks.

Probably licking his chops right now. 

More rain predicted by this weekend.  

Yay!!!

THE HILLS ARE COMING ALIVE...

not with the sound of music,

 but with grasses, small trees and mustard greens.

Gorgeousness everywhere you look.  

And these are all the hills that over the past 15 years 

have been burned twice to the ground by our wild fires.

Driving thru them Saturday to the knit store was pure eye candy.

But have you ever tried to take pictures while you are driving 70 mph?

Pretty tricky.

HA!!

SNEAK PEEK ALONG WITH AN UNPLANNED HAPPY COINCIDENCE

Temperature Blanket yarns have all arrived and been caked up.  

Now to get caught up for 2 1/2 months on Temperature Blanket.

You are looking at the month of Dec. 2021 where I wanted to start this blanket.

The city temperature is based at our cabin in Crestline, Ca.,

and taken at 12 p.m. noon everyday.

This is usually the highest temp during the daytime hours there.

The first of Dec. was a bit on the warmer side (low 80's) 

seen in the light cream on very edge ,

and then dropped a bit (high 70's) to the yellow (Chickie Masla).

 By 3rd of Dec. the temps quickly dropped down into the 60's and a few 50's,

with several days in-between in the 70's.

Needless to say a fairly warm December.

The Peace Fleece Yarn has a bit of a stiff hand

 so I upped the size of the crochet hook from an "H" that was recommended to a "J".

It's helped a bit but still a little denser feeling then I was hoping for.

The yarn is supposed to soften a bit after a gentle warm bath at the end.

I was also told by yarn store owner at Buku Yarns in LaVerne, Ca.

to add lots of extra lanolin in the rinse for softness.

But I'm so enjoying the tweed -like color changes and textures in all the yarns.

Plus the size "J" hook gives it a bit of an open lacy vibe.

Working on 2 separate projects right now.

The pair of socks for Jim (just turned the heel on first one)

and this blanket where I'm averaging about 6 rows of crochet a nite.

The happy coincidence happened after the first several nights of crocheting.

After finishing up one night I left the blanket on the couch 

and the next morning realized that the colors I picked to work with 

are almost identical to the colors in the painting above the couch.

Crazy, right?

My husband and I were so surprised because it was totally unplanned.

So now we know where it will end up when finished. 

Right now it's helping to keep the chill off in the evenings while working on it.

Our pup is enjoying it too!

What a life, huh?

LOL

If you are wondering about the painting,

it is an original oil that Jim purchased before I knew him,

one of his favorite pieces in the house.

It's such a stunning piece and I so admire the artist's loose style.

I guess I'm been looking and crafting under it for a good 10 years now.

Guessing the colors have penetrated my sub-conscious.

You are seeing only 7 of the 12 colors chosen.

Looking forward to incorporating the rest when the weather calls for them.

So far a super fun and exciting project

that's totally controlled by the weather.

AND NOW THERE ARE FOUR

AN ERRIE DAY

    Woke up to this yesterday,

named the Holy Jim Fire located in the Cleveland National Forest,

a mountainous range in Orange County near us.

It looks closer then it was thank goodness.

Shockingly,

 no smell or ashes,

just a very scary looking sky all day and night long.

As of 7:00 last night it had burned 500 acres

but luckily no homes or businesses. 

Today the fire fighters report that only 30 more acres were burned

due to the lack of winds spreading it. 

For once we got lucky. 

The past several days the Santa Ana winds had been a problem but had settled yesterday.

And tomorrow brings rain and possible snow.

We got lucky this time.

This is how it looked last night as the sun was setting at 5:30 or so.

Strange.